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Abstract

The development of the Internet has a relatively brief and well-documented history (Cerf, 2001; Griffiths, 2001; Leiner et al., 2000; Tyson, 2002). The initial concept was first mooted in the early 1960s. American computer specialists visualized the creation of a globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone quickly could access data and programs from any node, or place, in the world. In the early 1970s, a research project initiated by the United States Department of Defense investigated techniques and technologies to interlink packet networks of various kinds. This was called the Internetting project, and the system of connected networks that emerged from the project was known as the Internet. The initial networks created were purpose-built (i.e., they were intended for and largely restricted to closed specialist communities of research scholars). However, other scholars, other government departments, and the commercial sector realized the system of protocols developed during this research (Transmission Control Protocol [TCP] and Internet Protocol [IP], collectively known as the TCP/IP Protocol Suite) had the potential to revolutionize data and program sharing in all parts of the community. A flurry of activity, beginning with the National Science Foundation (NSF) network NSFNET in 1986, over the last two decades of the 20th century created the Internet as we know it today. In essence, the Internet is a collection of computers joined together with cables and connectors following standard communication protocols.